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A large Aalmis Rotterdam dated rectangular manganese red mythological tile picture

1767, SIGNED I. AALMIS. P FOR DE BLOMPOT MANUFACTORY

Details

A large Aalmis Rotterdam dated rectangular manganese red mythological tile picture 1767, signed I. Aalmis. P for de Blompot manufactory (Keukenstuk) after an engraving by Isaac de Moucheron (1667-1744) depicting a trompe l'oeil operatic stage with a view in a park landscape, flanked by two Doric columns supporting a pediment, the scene decorated to the foreground with two elegant hounds, further with two maiden in Grecian dress beside the statue of a herm, their male companion waving towards a lady seated in a gondola on a pond, bordered by an allée with high hedges and culminating in the view of a palatial building in the distance, to the right with huge leafy trees, signed I. Aalmis.P and dated 1767 on the first lower left hand corner, the tiles are loose, but form a complete tile picture, damages 8 x 12 tiles, 104cm. x 155.5cm.

Provenance

The Blankenburg estate, Wassenaar

Special Notice

Christie's charge a buyer's premium of 20% (VAT inclusive) for this lot.

Lot Essay

The Aalmis family, owners of the de Blompot factory in Rotterdam, produced objects as fine in quality as those made in Delft at the end of the 17th Century. Lunsingh Scheurleer provides us with tomes of engravings which show that de Blompot depicted Dutch country houses. A very important source of inspiration was de Zegepraelende Vecht which was printed in 1719. A trompe l'oeil operatic stage is created in the spirit of the Italian lyrical tradition. The result is a fascinating combination of a Dutch country house in a Tuscan or Venetian setting with French formal gardens. The boat floating on the water betrays the Dutch taste, typical of the second half of the 18th Century. The garden shows the influence of Le Nôtre, the garden architect of the French Court, in the Netherlands. Characteristic is that nature seems subdued by man. Every aspect of the scene and the garden is a feature of a stage-set. The people involved are considered as actors on a stage in this age of elegance.

cf. P. Jessen, Das Barock im Ornamentstich, Berlin, 1922, p.99 for the illustration of the original engraving by Isaac de Moucheron.
F.W.H. Hollstein, Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, vol.XIV, Amsterdam, 1956, p.95, nr.49 and plate 99 for the engraving in the Rijksprentenkabinet, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
J. Stodel, Catalogue Blue Delftware 1680-1720, Amsterdam, p.38, ill.27 for a similar tile picture signed Aalmis.
D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer, Delfts Blauw, Bussum, 1965, p.90.
C.H. de Jonge, Grafische voorbeelden uit de tegelbakkerij de Blompot te Rotterdam, Bulletin Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 1961, pp.66-70.

See illustrations of the tile picture, the engraving and the Blankenburg estate